The forms associated with Art Deco served an important part in the interwar period. Designers were ultimately not attempting to design modern cities, even though places like Miami Beach flourished from the design. The spaces of this style were developed with consumers in mind with its ideals focusing on the fashionable. Also during this period, consumers were interested in mobility which encompassed rebuilding infrastructure and the creation of modern ways of transportation: airplanes, trains, and ocean liners. Media and film also helped to spread the creation of new technologies to households. Mobility had suddenly become a new and exciting part of mass culture and the everyday lifestyle. It was only natural that this period’s architecture was influenced by the notion of mobility.
The connection between this new style and the progression of mobilization and communication was noted within society at that time. During the Paris World’s Fair of 1925, the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts, brought life to the term “Art Deco”. Historian,W. Franklyn Paris, stated that this new style “is synthetic and reflects the tempo of the day.” Paris also describes the style as a direct correlation to the ideas of speed and function joining new technologies that included: airplanes, automobiles, ocean liners, and radios. The Art Deco style flourished in the World Fair’s between the 1920’s and 1930’s and became a way to link society, politics, progression of technology, and the economy together in a singular art form. World Fair exhibitions had a direct influence on the imagery of the construction of Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach. For example, the use of new building systems, structural signage, different lighting strategies, pylons forms, and use of materials could all be traced back to the World’s Fairs of this time. Decorative motifs of the Art Deco style at the World Fair’s (pylons, zig-zag patterns, sunbursts, fountains, and motifs focused on speed and industry) could also all be found as influencing examples of latter Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach.
One example of an influenced building from the World Fair was The Cross Roads of the World located in Los Angeles. The pavilion was designed by Robert V. Derrah and has many architectural influences from modern ocean liners. The pavilion was designed at the beginning of the streamlining period. The Cross Roads of the World has a resonating impact that ultimately connects different architectures from around the globe together, unified with the streamlined form. Like many other streamlined buildings, Cross Roads resembles an ocean liner which evoked representations of precision, speed, hygiene, and efficiency of modern technology by designing luxuriously. Even though this pavilion was designed as high-end, it still attracted the working class who could be transported to a world of luxury through the architecture. Windover suggests that the term cosmopolitan best describes the mobility qualities of the Art Deco, which ultimately made an impact across the globe that represents an universal understanding of the progression of mobility and expression to the new forms while still showcasing the technological and socio-economic developments that lead to that point in time. The cosmopolitan nature of the Art Deco also gives a sense of sophisticated taste that transcends social class. In contrast to internationalism, which strived to find a universal design solution, cosmopolitanism retains the element of singularity in design which is the main difference between Art Deco and the International Style.
However, the Art Deco period stood in stark contrast to the lifestyles that many Americans faced during the Great Depression; categorized with economic and social unrest but saturated with the majority of advertisement focusing on images of luxurious products in billboards, film, and stores. Though many Americans lived in squalor during the Depression, the ideals of the Art Deco were maintained and perpetuated by the upper-class to reinstate a social society based on luxury. Art Deco presents itself as an art style that evoked optimism throughout society of a better future; a style focused on appealing to emotions in a grandiose manner; contrasted to the Modern Movement which focused primarily on the conditions of society by focusing on the aesthetics of functionality. However, Art Deco spaces were carefully planned from the Beaux-Arts ideas of having an ordered plan. Another separation between the Modern Movement and the Art Deco was the presence of change. Modern Movement architects primarily focused on changing social space and ultimately redesigning culture; whereas, Art Deco designers focused on exploiting the technology of mobility that was in affect from the culture between World War I and World War II.
In terms of culture, Miami Beach’s Art Deco District was noted for its design and became listed as a U.S. historic district on May 14, 1979, incorporating 960 buildings within 125 blocks of the district. The area covered is one square mile from 6th to 21st Streets, encompassing Ocean Drive to Flamingo Park. This area is a walkable museum, showcasing the highest concentration of Art Deco resorts, apartments, and houses from the 1920’s to the 1940’s. In May of 1981, developer Abe Resnick, decided to demolish Hohauser’s New Yorker Hotel, angering preservationists and proponents of the Art Deco style. The demolition of the hotel was a pivotal moment, ultimately persuading others to become active within preserving buildings in the historic district of Miami Beach. Monte S. Lee, former director of Miami Beach urban planning, quoted after the demolition of the New Yorker Hotel, “On Miami Beach, land values far outweigh building values,” showing that money was more effective then sentimental and historic values from the Art Deco District.
In 1976, the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) was created by Barbara Capitman and her son John Capitman, who created the group to preserve and educate others on the architectural history of Miami Beach. Since its inception in 1976, the MDPL has created urban policy reforms to preserve Art Deco buildings within the city. The greatest achievement of the MDPL was the passing of City Ordinance No. 93-2832 in 1992, which expanded the district into the current mile square district, ultimately protecting all buildings from demolition that lay within the district. Barbara Capitman speculates that the reason that the Art Deco was vulnerable to demolition was due to the lack of writing done on the district, ultimately giving the public a lack of design appreciation. Through the preservation efforts completed by the Miami Design Preservation League, the city still retains its Art Deco charm, ultimately giving others a chance to experience the luxurious visual delight of the Art Deco style in Miami Beach.
In conclusion, Miami Beach has always had the groundworks to becoming a modern city focused on accepting modernity and mobilization of new technologies, which can be seen from the earliest developers of the city. As the city progressed, it was only natural for the city to adapt its own vernacular on the Art Deco style throughout the city, ultimately making the style become a quintessential part of the city. Art Deco had glamorized urban life by developing a style that reflected the luxurious lifestyle that could be had from modernity. Like movie sets designed in the Art Deco style for Hollywood, the Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach became a stage, where everyday people become actors moving about glamorized spaces. Even today, people flock to Miami Beach to experience the nightlife and excitement that has been preserved, making the Art Deco style timeless and an essential part of architectural history. Through the development of housing typologies (hotel resorts, apartment towers, and houses) a glamorous lifestyle from this period can still be relived and experienced by enhancing the visitor’s experience, through bright colors and natural motifs, making it an exotic destination to visit. Today, it is hard to think of Miami Beach without the Art Deco style because it has become a vital visual entity to a vibrant city built for luxury.